


Old Wounds

by firelord-zuzu-the-jerkbender (fatherlords)



Series: Bakoda Week 2020 [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Scars, mildly angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:53:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25991662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fatherlords/pseuds/firelord-zuzu-the-jerkbender
Summary: Mutual pining gets resolved with a melancholy vibe
Relationships: Bato/Hakoda (Avatar)
Series: Bakoda Week 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1862617
Kudos: 86
Collections: Bakoda Fleet Week 2020





	Old Wounds

"You've got to take better care of these, Bato," Hakoda chastised softly, running his fingers over the scars on Bato's back. Bato didn't reply, focusing on keeping his breathing steady under the gentle touches his friend offered. He closed his eyes slowly, helplessly falling deeper in love with his best friend. "Hey. Don't fall asleep on me whilst I'm trying to lecture you into taking care of yourself." 

"Don't tempt me," Bato replied with a poorly concealed grin. 

Hakoda breathed out heavily through his nose, and Bato didn't need to turn around to know that Hakoda was pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head in exasperation. "Bato. Dearest. Why are you like this?" Bato snorted in a failed attempt to hold back a laugh, fighting against the rising heat in his cheeks. He knew the term of endearment had been a joking comment, but it still made his heart clench. He wished it could be more.

"To annoy you," Bato replied, and he didn't need to turn around to see Hakoda rolling his eyes. 

"You certainly manage to do that," Hakoda replied, ghosting his fingers over the last patch of scar tissue left untouched by the salve. Bato didn't want the touches to stop, but they did, and so did the talking. 

He hadn't expected to feel Hakoda's fingers running through his scalp, pulling his hair into braids. It felt so intimate, like it crossed a line between platonic and more, but Bato felt that thinking too hard on it was dangerous territory. Hakoda saw him as a friend. Bato didn't want to haunt himself with any more false hope than his heart already gave him. 

"Do you ever brush this mess?" Bato felt as though the tone should've been teasing, or stern. But there was a softness in it instead, and Bato wished it wasn't. He wished he could pretend he wasn't in love with his friend. Everything about the night is too gentle… the candles, the gentle touches, the softness to Hakoda's tone… Bato wished it was all on purpose, that it wasn't just a friend helping out another friend with burn care. "Bato?"

"Yeah… sorry."

"I'm… making you uncomfortable, aren't I?" 

"What- no!" Bato protested, pushing down the lump in his chest. "I just- memories," he lied. Hakoda dropped his hair slowly, instead resting his hand on Bato's shoulder. 

"Lay here with me?" That request felt so intimate, so gentle, that Bato was having a hard time convincing himself that this was all platonic. He had to. He couldn't believe that his straight best friend could ever love him back, because it wasn't going to happen, and he refused to set himself up for any more hurt.

Bato still laid down besides Hakoda, repeating again and again like a mantra that this was friendship, nothing more. 

It became harder to convince himself of that when he felt Hakoda lay his head on Bato's chest, tracing the edges of his burns with his fingertips. The intimacy was choking Bato, because he knew his feelings were unrequited. "Hakoda…" 

"Is this… this is too much for you, isn't it?"

"I…" too much, or not enough? Or both, all at once.

"I thought that, maybe- at least for tonight, I could pretend that you were mine." Hakoda sounded so vulnerable, so raw, and Bato hoped- hoped hard that his mind wasn't merely trying to read a romance between lines that weren't even laid down in front of him for him to read. He decided to be bold, to cover Hakoda's hand with his own and hold it there against his chest. 

"I don't want to pretend," Bato whispered quietly, "I want this to all be real."

"It never wasn't," Hakoda whispered back softly, "you never noticed."

"I was too scared to hope," Bato replied quietly, pieces of mirror-fractured memories piecing together in his mind, un-obscuring into what they really were; what Bato had been too afraid of being false that he neglected to see that they were real; that Hakoda's feelings for him were real: Everything about tonight- the candles, the gentle touches- all of it- had romantic intent behind it. Bato closed his eyes slowly. "I was too scared of loving you to see that maybe you loved me too."

"I did," Hakoda replied, "and I do." He pressed a soft kiss to Bato's collarbone. "And I think I always will."

"We're idiots, aren't we?" Bato replied softly. "How could we not…" the question died down in his throat, the painful answers already swirling in his mind. War, death, intolerance, fear, grief... for Hakoda; fatherhood, and later, widowhood.

"I'm ready to be happy again," Hakoda whispered weakly, and that was all that Bato needed to hear for now. They would be each other's now, would share the burdens of the old wounds between them. Unspoken promises passed between them, to protect each other, to love each other, to be faithful for each other.

To always care for the old wounds.


End file.
